Ryan Carmack, the son of John Carmack (the lead programmer of games like Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and Quake), released his first video game when he was just 9 years old. Of course, most kids don’t have the privilege of receiving personal programming lessons from one of the greatest game developers of all time, but they’re not entirely on their own either.
There’s a growing number of ed-tech startups that are building engaging platforms that teach coding, logic, and math to kids to help them become content creators and not just content consumers.
One such startup is Camp K12, and the goal of its Hatch Kids platform is to introduce students from 6 to 10 years of age to AR/VR video game development.
Hatch Kids is actually a simplified version of HatchXR, and it provides a gentle introduction to the basic concepts all software developers need to master. In Hatch Kids, students code using blocks, which they can just drag and drop into the workspace. Those who move on to HatchXR use the JavaScript programming language, one of the most popular programing languages in the world.
“There are 100m+ kid coders out there today using a variety of free coding platforms to learn coding by building games and apps,” said Camp K12’s co-founder and CEO, Anshul Bhag talked about Hatch’s vision.
“These platforms are incredibly effective and they set the stage for the kid’s coding movement back in 2007, however, the vast majority of them are restricted to 2D project creation, built for the age of smartphones and flat screens.”
So far, over 1.1 million students have signed up for Hatch Kids, using the platform to develop the self-confidence they need to become AR/VR content creators. Anyone can sign up for free, and you can find more information about Hatch Kids on the official website and the official Discord server.
